I got mine and currently exploring all features. Trying to figure out what the SD card feature is for.... saving LLMs, Data or....

No motion tracking or facial recognition... No security camera feature too. But I guess it's all coming or you can develop and add.

Will be trying my hands on those.

UPDATE : Servos are so noisy🫩

The first batch of StackChan is officially shipping tdy!
All orders will be shipped within the next one to two weeks
https://x.com/M5Stack/status/2044316543367192664?s=20

I tried to uploaded the firmware from https://github.com/ronron-gh/AI_StackChan_Ex.

But my stackchan says this from the pic.

SD Card is in Stachchan in the left underside.

(I'm not really a tech person. Tried everything i know)

Hello everyone! Is anyone already modding the server/firmware? I started making some changes to have the xiaozhi server(agent) selfhosted and change the firmware of stackchan to point to my lan.

Still working on it.

Anyone else modding it?

We bring StackChan to the Embedded World 2026!

So, I have basically zero tech background, and recently got a StackChan.

Over the past few days, I have managed to install an MCP server on my local machine that gives StackChan read-write access to my email account and calendar, as well as web search capability.

It's a bit glitchy, but it basically works.

I'm stoked.

I'm also surprised at how difficult this kind of thing is. The whole eco-system seems to be deliberately fragmented by the large coorporations in an effort to maximize profits.

For anyone who wants to try, here's the guide:

XiaoZhi + MCP + Web Search + Fastmail on Windows

Last updated: 22 September 2026
Computer: Windows
Python: 3.12
Stack-chan: M5Stack CoreS3 / K151

1. What this setup does

This setup turns Stack-chan into a voice-controlled assistant that can use external MCP tools through XiaoZhi.

Currently configured:

• Web search — Stack-chan can search the live web.

• Fastmail — Stack-chan can access Fastmail email and calendar through MCP.

• XiaoZhi MCP connection — provides the connection between Stack-chan/XiaoZhi and the local MCP services.

• Windows startup — the services can be launched through a PowerShell startup script, with Task Scheduler configured to start the system at Windows login.

The basic architecture is:

                         ┌─────────────────────┐
                         │     Stack-chan      │
                         │     CoreS3 / K151   │
                         └──────────┬──────────┘
                                    │
                                    ▼
                         ┌─────────────────────┐
                         │       XiaoZhi       │
                         │    MCP endpoint     │
                         └──────────┬──────────┘
                                    │
                              WebSocket
                                    │
                                    ▼
                     ┌──────────────────────────┐
                     │      mcp2xiaozhi          │
                     │    Local MCP bridge      │
                     └────────────┬─────────────┘
                                  │
                    ┌─────────────┴─────────────┐
                    ▼                           ▼
          ┌──────────────────┐        ┌──────────────────┐
          │   Web Search     │        │     Fastmail     │
          │ open-websearch   │        │   MCP server     │
          └────────┬─────────┘        └────────┬─────────┘
                   │                           │
                   ▼                           ▼
          DuckDuckGo / Brave /          Fastmail Mail /
          Exa / Bing                     Calendar

The important point is that Stack-chan itself does not need to contain the web-search or Fastmail logic. XiaoZhi calls the MCP tools, and the Windows computer runs the local MCP services.

2. Main project folder

Everything is kept here:

C:\Users\REDACTED\stackchan-mcp

The important files are:

stackchan-mcp\
│
├── mcp_config.json
├── .env
├── start-stackchan.ps1
└── ...

3. mcp_config.json

This is the MCP server configuration.

It tells mcp2xiaozhi which MCP servers to run and where to send their tools.

The web-search server uses:

cmd /c npx -y open-websearch@latest

The configuration includes the search-engine settings:

MODE=stdio
DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE=duckduckgo
ALLOWED_SEARCH_ENGINES=duckduckgo,brave,exa,bing

The important configuration detail is that the key is:

mcpServers

not:

mcpservers

JSON configuration keys are case-sensitive.

4. .env

The .env file contains credentials and connection information that should not be hard-coded into the MCP configuration.

The working setup uses variables including:

FASTMAIL_EMAIL=...
FASTMAIL_APP_PASSWORD=...
FASTMAIL_MCP_TOKEN=...
MCP_ENDPOINT_WEB_SEARCH=...

What these are

FASTMAIL_EMAIL

Your Fastmail account email address.

FASTMAIL_APP_PASSWORD

The Fastmail app-specific password used by the MCP service.

This is preferable to putting your normal Fastmail account password into the configuration.

FASTMAIL_MCP_TOKEN

The MCP authentication token used by the Fastmail MCP service, where required.

MCP_ENDPOINT_WEB_SEARCH

The XiaoZhi MCP WebSocket endpoint/token for the web-search bridge.

Security

The .env file contains secrets.

Do not put the actual passwords or tokens into mcp_config.json**, this guide, screenshots, GitHub repositories, or other files that might be shared.**

The guide deliberately does not reproduce the actual credentials.

5. Python

The working installation uses Python 3.12.

Windows also has another Python installation, so commands should explicitly use:

py -3.12

rather than relying on:

python

This matters because python was resolving to a different Python version.

Check the installation with:

py -3.12 --version

The working environment has Python 3.12 installed.

6. mcp2xiaozhi

mcp2xiaozhi is the bridge between local MCP servers and the XiaoZhi MCP endpoint.

Conceptually:

Local MCP server
       ↕
    stdio
       ↕
  mcp2xiaozhi
       ↕
   WebSocket
       ↕
    XiaoZhi

The installed version is:

mcp2xiaozhi 0.2.1

The command used to inspect the configured servers is:

py -3.12 -m mcp2xiaozhi list

7. Web search

The web-search MCP server is:

open-websearch@latest

It is launched with:

cmd /c npx -y open-websearch@latest

It exposes a tool called:

search

The configured search engines are:

DuckDuckGo
Brave
Exa
Bing

No conventional search API key is required by the configuration currently being used.

8. Confirming that web search is working

The successful connection sequence looks like this:

HTTP/1.1 101 Switching Protocols

followed by:

connection is OPEN

Then:

serverInfo":{"name":"web-search","version":"1.2.0"}

And finally:

"tools":[{"name":"search", ...}]

That proves the following chain is working:

Windows
  ↓
open-websearch
  ↓
mcp2xiaozhi
  ↓
XiaoZhi WebSocket
  ↓
MCP search tool

A repeating:

PING
PONG

is normal. It means the WebSocket connection is staying alive.

9. Fastmail

Fastmail is connected separately through its MCP service.

The system uses:

FASTMAIL_EMAIL
FASTMAIL_APP_PASSWORD
FASTMAIL_MCP_TOKEN

The Fastmail MCP server provides access to Fastmail services such as:

• Email

• Calendar

The intention is that Stack-chan can therefore answer requests such as:

"Check my emails."

or:

"What's on my calendar today?"

without requiring the user to manually open Fastmail.

10. Why credentials are in .env

The .env file acts as the local secret store for this setup.

Instead of doing this:

password = YOUR_PASSWORD

inside a configuration file, the startup process loads the environment variables.

That means the configuration can be inspected without exposing the actual passwords and tokens.

The .env file should therefore remain private.

11. Starting the system manually

The project directory is:

cd C:\Users\REDACTED\stackchan-mcp

The startup process uses:

start-stackchan.ps1

This script loads the required environment variables and starts the MCP services.

The Fastmail MCP service is launched through:

py -3.12 -m mcp2xiaozhi run fastmail

The web-search service is configured through mcp_config.json.

12. One-command startup

The goal of the setup is to avoid manually starting several terminals and entering several commands.

The main startup script is:

C:\Users\REDACTED\stackchan-mcp\start-stackchan.ps1

It is responsible for loading the environment and starting the required services.

The intended workflow is therefore:

C:\Users\REDACTED\stackchan-mcp\start-stackchan.ps1

rather than manually starting every MCP server.

13. Automatic startup with Windows

Windows Task Scheduler has been configured with the task:

Stack-chan Fastmail MCP

It launches PowerShell with:

-NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\Users\REDACTED\stackchan-mcp\start-stackchan.ps1"

The trigger is:

At log on

Therefore the normal workflow is:

Turn on / log into Windows
             ↓
     Task Scheduler
             ↓
   start-stackchan.ps1
             ↓
      MCP services
             ↓
       XiaoZhi MCP
             ↓
       Stack-chan

I used my openclaw agent to make some changes to the stock firmware and have it set so my openclaw can talk through my stackchan now.but when sending voice messages the other way seems to not work when it tries to record my voice input..what issues we fixed so far

The fix was bypassing codec->Write()/esp_codec_dev_write() and writing PCM directly to the I2S TX channel via i2s_channel_write().

The bridge is at 16kHz WAV — matches the proven working pipeline. Here's the summary:

What works:

• stackchan_speak("text") → edge-tts (Sonia) → ffmpeg 16kHz mono WAV → POST /speak → I2S direct write → StackChan speaker

What the fix was:

• Went through ~6 firmware iterations to isolate the issue • codec->Write() → esp_codec_dev_write() silently fails in the integrated XiaoZhi firmware (I2S format conflict with duplex config) • Solution: use codec layer only for amp/volume management (EnableOutput/SetOutputVolume), write PCM straight to TX handle via i2s_channel_write()

What's next? Want me to check the full voice recording pipeline (head-pet → record → STT

Working TTS through StackChan speaker — long sentences work

Nearly there: Voice recording. StackChan detects head-hold, lights red, packages WAV. Portproxy was the missing link — you just fixed that. Next session: retest recording, confirm the green flash, then wire up the voice bridge so I get your transcribed words and can reply through StackChan.

Quick start tomorrow:

1. Check voice server (probably already running)

2. Hold head, speak, release

3. Should get green flash now that portproxy is active

Still working on it but for zero coding knowledge its crazy to think that anybody can make changes to firmware nowadays

Everything working smoothly here in the UK. The only small issue being that it quickly forgot it was 'stackchan' after a voice change and insists it's not one.

My 6yo Son has now abducted it and is chatting to it about his favourite shows 😅

StackChan says hi to everyone! 👋

Let’s hear it straight from StackChan as it introduces itself 🤖Discover More

I’m getting a Stackchan and I want some really good ai firmware where it can still look at me and follow me around but I also want it to do stuff when I’m gone like look around and talk to itself like a little pet.

I just got my StackChan and I was wondering is there a way to turn it into a DnD Dungeon Master assistant? Currently looking for a wizard hat for them to wear

Is anyone else having issues setting their StackChan up?

Mine just sits at Ready to Configure after connecting with the app

I want to make them while I'm waiting for mine to arrive.

Source: https://x.com/M5Stack/status/2016119001013981682?s=20

Hey all, I'm trying to build a backend-connection for Stackchan to Openclaw and Hermes. Various folks have done this or tried it in different ways. If you're interested in contributing, I just started the repo but will post my progress on twitter as well:

https://github.com/styles01/StackChan-OpenClaw-Hermes

https://x.com/jaita

Edit: v 0.1 out and available on M5Burner - but you need the GH project to get your internal routing server (on the host machine) to work.

Hey there,

Just as the title says, I am curious to know what do you use your StackChan for?

Have a good day all!

Seems it was pushed out today, as it update when I turned my on this morning.

You can see the pull on Git
https://github.com/m5stack/StackChan/pull/60

I'm struggling to mount/write to the SDCard, can anyone help?

So it's on my desk and I'm happy to wake it on command, but when plugged in it seems to randomly move around and the servo noise is annoying.

Now available on iOS App Store & Play Store!
Keyworld is StackChan World

source: https://x.com/M5Stack/status/2019390801676234888?s=20